National NAKSHA workshop on urban land records begins in Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar | Gujarat — A two-day national-level training-cum-workshop on the NAKSHA (National Geospatial Knowledge-Based Land Survey of Urban Habitations) Programme commenced on Thursday at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, marking a major step towards modernising urban land governance in India.

The programme, being held on January 29 and 30, 2026, is sponsored by the Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. It is jointly organised by the B.N. Yugandhar Centre for Rural Studies (BNYCRS), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, and the Centre of Excellence in Land Administration and Management (CoE), Government of Gujarat.

Around 170 senior and field-level officers from nine states and one Union Territory are participating in the workshop. This includes about 70 officers from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, along with nearly 100 officers from Gujarat’s Land Records Department.

The programme is being conducted under the guidance of Shailesh Kumar Singh, IAS, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Government of India, with strong support from Dr. Jayanti S. Ravi, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue Department, Government of Gujarat.

Welcoming the participants, Rajesh Meena, IAS, Deputy Director (Senior) and Centre Director, BNYCRS, LBSNAA, said the NAKSHA Programme is a transformative initiative aimed at improving transparency, efficiency and spatial planning in urban land administration. He said the workshop provides a platform for knowledge sharing, discussion of operational challenges and identification of best practices based on field experience.

On the first day, Shyam Kumar, Director, Department of Land Resources, provided an overview of the NAKSHA Programme, stating that 157 pilot cities have been selected nationwide, including Nadiad, Anand, Gandhidham, Morbi and Navsari in Gujarat. The programme was launched in February 2025 from Raisen district in Madhya Pradesh.

Senior officials including N.K. Sudhanshu, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Dr. Lalit Jain, IAS, Director of Census Operations, Chandigarh, shared insights on implementation frameworks, city surveys and legal processes.

The day concluded with state-level consultations, where participants discussed progress, challenges and solutions related to NAKSHA implementation, laying the foundation for more efficient and technology-driven urban land management across India.